I hope everyone has a Blessed Christmas. Let us not forget amongst all the hustle and the bustle, the presents and the yummy food, the lights and the laughter, the true meaning of Christmas.

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:11

This will be my last post until January. We are flying out tomorrow to spend Christmas and New Years in Florida. It will be different not to have snow on Christmas day. With all the freezing temperatures we have been having I have to say Florida is a welcome change. When I get back I will post about my trip. Here is an early "Happy New Year!" to you since I will not be around to tell you.


God Bless,
Lisa

My Club Little House Contribution

Here is my CLH contribution, a little bench upholstered in bright pink velvet fabric. These were more of a challenge then I expected. My idea for attaching the legs did not work. Actually it was rather comical. LOL! I had the idea of wood gluing them on then shooting a staple through the top before I upholstered it, to insure the legs did not come off. That did not work! When I went to shoot the staple in, all four legs shot off like rockets, flying every which way clear across the shop. It was so funny! Well, it was funny after being stunned and little upset for the first few seconds after it happened. LOL! You have to understand, instead of trying one out to see if it worked I decided to glue all 56 legs on the wood bases (I can just kick myself for doing that) then put a board on top of each one and clamp them down with wood clamps and let them dry over night to make sure the wood glue was on good. This took about 2 days, since I only had so much time in a day to work on them. I never dreamed the staple gun idea would not work. You have to now that the staple gun I used is not one of those hand held manual ones but one that is connected to a big compressor that is in another room. It's powerful! LOL! Since I did not learn my lessen the first time and tried it over and over again, some legs were lost in the fiasco and I was not able to make one for myself. I ordered enough legs (from the UK) to make 13 benches, 12 to send off and one for myself. I will have to order more legs so I can have one too. I guess it's obvious I am not the upholster in the family, my husband is. LOL! I suppose you are wondering what on earth I used to hold the legs on. I used a hot glue gun. LOL! I don't know what I would have done with out it. Surprisingly enough it worked better then I expected. I don't have a "Fabulous Find" for today. Sorry. :-( I will be sure to have one in January when I get back from the holidays. It has warmed up around here, finally, and is snowing right now. We have had freezing temperatures of -17 degrees Celsius, 0 degrees Fahrenheit. To cold for me! Stay warm and see you on Monday for my last post before Christmas.

Doll Quilt Swap 5 Reveal & Other Chatter

Well, here it is, my DQS5 doll quilt. I hope my partner likes it. I am a little late sending it out so she has not received it yet. I can't even tell you where it is going because it might give away who the recipient is and I don't want her seeing it before she opens the box. O.k. , o.k. you twisted my arm a little. I will tell you that it is going to the Eastern side of the U.S. LOL! Now my lips are sealed. ziiiiiiiiiiiip! :-) Finished quilt size is 17.5" x 17". I machine quilted the quilt top with fuchsia color thread and hand sewed the binding on. I also sewed some clear seed beads onto the center of the flower to give it a little pizazz. I can't seem to catch that pizazz in the picture though. LOL!

I will be starting a couple of mini quilts this weekend. One is for me and the other is for Marja who lives in the Netherlands. I hope to show you the one I am sending out next week. Cross my fingers! Then again maybe I should wait because I don't want her to see it before she opens the box either. LOL! O.K. we'll see maybe she won't see my post. :-)

It is snowing today. We are supposed to get a snow storm that will bring 20 centimeters of snow. I think that is around 9 inches. I am glad I am all roasty toasty in my house today. :-) The snow has come late this year. We got a little snow last week when the temperature warmed up a little. Then more came a couple of days ago. We have had freezing temperatures, to cold for snow. We have a great little hill for the kids to sled and ski down so needless to say we have all been having a ball playing in the snow. My husband even made a jump. My youngest who is 3 rides the GT Racer down and never misses that jump. I was worried she was going to lose control but she steers it very well and surprisingly enough she has not fallen off of it yet. It is so cute to see.

Sorry I don't have a "Fabulous Find" to post today. Maybe next Friday.

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Club Little House Sneak Peek

Here is a sneak peek of the Little's I have made and sent off for the Club Little House swap. They have safely arrived at Amy's house. I will post what was inside sometime this month when I know Amy has sent all the boxes out to everyone. I am patiently waiting for all the wonderful Little's to arrive in my mail box. I can't hardly stand it! LOL! :-)

Shop Etsy on Red Friday!

Come join us for a "Red Friday" Christmas shopping event. Tracy from Vintage Sister Studio had a great idea to hold a "Red Friday" for a few of us who are having our Etsy shop updates. Click here to see who is participating and help support these talented independent artists by patronizing and visiting their shops and blogs. :-) I will be updating my shop for this event so check back again on Friday. :-)

Doll Quilt Swap 5 Sneak Peek 2

Here is a peek at the doll quilt I am working on for DQS5. Full reveal will be this week so check back. :-)

Back Online & Doing Fine!

I am back online and settling in nicely in our new home. My sewing room is not completely together, but my sewing machine and cutting board are on the table ready to be used again. :-) Hopefully I will be able to show you a picture of the doll quilt I am working on for DQS5 by this weekend. Look what I got in the mail just before the move. Isn't that a cute little picture? I purchased it from Du Buh Du Designs to help out with the Nielson's Recovery Fund. If you want to purchase one go here. One of these days I am going to buy one of Christine's dolls. They are so lovely! She has ornaments in the works right now. I think I will shoot for one of those next. :-) Talk to you all later.

Goodies In The Mail!

Look what I got in the mail from Indonesia. It is a doll quilt from Lin at sew-do-i for DQS5. I just love the colors. Along with the quilt she sent a box of Pocky. They are so yummy! Thank you Lin! :-) I am still working on my DQS5 quilt along with packing for the move on Saturday. Will post pictures of my doll quilt as soon as I can. I won't have a "Fabulous Find Friday" post today. Sorry :-(. Although I think this quilt is really fabulous so maybe this can be my fabulous item. LOL! Signing off until I get my Internet all hooked up again.

Lisa

Flapper Brooch

As promised here is one of my creations that I said I would post today on the Fabulous Find Friday post. It is a Flapper Brooch. If you love it and have to have it go here to purchase. I will have more in the near future.

Lisa Michelle Design Web Store Closing & New House

Hello everyone! I just wanted to say that I have closed my web store LisaMichelleDesign.com. I originally started my little website to have something else to do besides being a stay at home mom. Over the summer I started working 3 days a week at our shop, then 4 days, and sometime next year will be going up to 5 days. I was finding it hard to keep my web store stocked and keep up with all the work of being a mom and home maker. I think spending more time with my children is more important. I am still going to sell my tooth fairy pillows and other items but will be doing it through etsy. This way I will not feel pressured to keep a store stocked. I will be posting when I have new items listed. Thank you to all my customers for your business, you have been wonderful.

We have bought another house so I am in the middle of packing. We move in November 15th. I am so excited! After selling our house last fall and living in an apartment for a year it is a welcome change. We thought we would be in an apartment for a couple of months at the most while we decided where we were going to move and a year later here we are just moving out at last!!!

If you don't hear from me for a while you will know why. :-)

Lisa

Fabulous Find Friday

How fabulous are these!!! I have already made something with the buttons and it will be for sale on Monday. Check back to see what it is. :-)

Doll Quilt Swap 5 Sneak Peek 1

This is a peak of some of the fabrics I am going to use in the doll quilt. What do you think? I really like them! :-)

Fabulous Find Friday

I am starting something new and it's called "Fabulous Find Friday". One day a few weeks ago the idea and title just popped into my head. I will do my best to post something every week. If I don't please forgive me, my life has gotten a bit busier then it has been. I am sure you are wondering what exactly is "Fabulous Find Friday", well, I will tell you. Every Friday or close to it, I will post a picture of an item I have found that I thought was "Fabulous" whether it be old or new. For the first post I wanted to show you a cute little kitten I found at a second hand store for 10 cents. She has green jewel eyes and is made in Japan. When I found this little kitten her ear was not broken. Unfortunately it broke on my way to the counter to pay for it. Oh well, for 10 cents you can't beat it. LOL! I figure I can hide the broken ear with a flower or something. What I have in mind to do with the kitten is make a pin cushion. When I get around to making it I will post a picture.

More Swaps!

***Update Oct 25th***

Looks like there may be some room in the Club Little house group. Go here and read Fridays post for Amy's contact info if you want to join.

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I have joined two swaps. I just can't help myself! LOL! I enjoyed participating in Doll Quilt Swap 4 so much that I signed up for round 5 today. The swap has increased from 90 to 150 people. Once 150 people sign up the swap will be closed. There is still room so if you want to join in hop on over here and sign up.

I have also joined Club Little House. I am so thrilled! You have no idea how thrilled!!! I have been wanting to get in on this one for a while now. It is hosted by the oh so talented Amy at Inspire Co. Sign up for the CLH swap is now closed.

Check back to see sneak peaks of what I am making for these swaps. :-)

Doll Quilt Swap 4 Reveal

Finally a picture of the Quilt that I sent out to my swap partner the end of August. What do you think? I hope she likes it. :-) The name of the quilt is "B is for Butterflies", my own design. Unfortunately I did not think to take a picture of the tag on the back before I sent it out. The off white center of the quilt is hand quilted and the rest of the quilt is machine quilted.

I am the lucky recipient of this very cute fish quilt named "Aqua Fishy". Isn't it just adorable! I love the colors! :-) Thanks Adrienne for a positively lovely quilt. You did a great job! :-) Along with this quilt Adrienne sent me some fabric, one of them being a fabric that I have been wanting for a long time. Yea!!! :-)

I enjoyed participating in this swap so much I can't wait for Doll Quilt Swap 5!

Doll Quilt Swap 4 Sneak Peek #2

O.K. so I did not finish the quilt top like I thought. I decided to add a little more to it. Here is sneak peek #2. What do you think so far? I am farther along on the quilt then what is shown in the picture.

Doll Quilt Swap 4 Sneak Peek #1

Thought I would let you in on some of the fabrics I am using in the doll quilt. The fabrics are a mix of vintage reproductions, vintage with a twist and new design fabrics. I should have the top done tomorrow. Check back for more sneak peeks this week. :-)

Still Here! Update On Quilt Projects

Hi everyone! Sorry I have not been posting very much lately. I don't like posting with out a picture but this post will have to be picture less. Sorry. :-( I have been working 3 days a week at our shop so have not had time to post much.

Thought I would give you a little update on my quilt projects. I am still trying to catch up on my Dear Jane Quilt blocks. I am also still working on my sampler quilt and have 3 blocks left to do. I should have some time on Monday to take pictures and post them. I have not started the doll quilt for the Doll Quilt Swap 4 yet but have been drawing up some different ideas. I had an Anonymous person leave me a note on my doll quilt post, stating that maybe I should post on what kind of doll quilt I would like to receive. Well, I have to say I would be happy with most anything that someone would take the time to make for me. In case that was my anonymous partner that left the message, sorry for not posting about what I would like sooner. Here are a few ideas of the types of fabrics I like. The doll quilt by no means has to be made using one of these fabrics this is just to give you an idea of the styles I like. I like Amy Butler, Anna Maria Horner and Heather Bailey fabrics. I also like 3 Sister by Moda, most all Moda fabrics, Micheal Miller fabrics, retro, modern, Aunt Grace type fabrics. As you can see I like a wide variety of styles so am easy to please. :-) I hope this helps. Please don't stress about it just have fun making it. :-)

Well, I better go for now, I am tired and going to bed. This is early for me, but I have been feeling a little under the weather for a couple of weeks. I think going to bed earlyer will do me some good. Cheerio & Happy Quilting!

The Pink Artist Drawing

Starting August 1, 2008 - October 15, 2008 we, The Pink Artists will be raising money for Susan G. Komen For The Cure. For every $10 you donate your name will be put in a draw to win "Love Squared" and other artist items. Click on the link above to find out more or stay tuned for more information as time gets closer. Feel free to copy the image below to make flyers to pass out to your family and friends. For more posts on "The Pink Artist Project" click here.

A Little Bit Of Everything

Notice the new button on my blog! I joined a Doll Quilt Swap. I am so excited! It is round 4 at the Doll Quilt Swap blog. I wanted to join this swap the last round but just missed the cut off date. This time around they decided to increase it to 100 people. I just made it in at #90 and am so excited to get started. Yeah!!! I know who my partner is but I can't say because it is a secret (zzzzzzzzzzziping my lips). I will let you in on my progress but have not decided if I want to reveal the full quilt when I am finished until my swap partner receives it. We'll see though! (wink, wink) ;-)

I am still plugging away on my Dear Jane Blocks and am still behind. I will take pictures of my new blocks and show them to you soon. I joined the fabric swap at the Dear Baby Jane blog so am excited to get some new fabrics for my quilt. I don't remember if I told you before but I am not repeating any fabrics in my quilt except for the creamier back ground fabrics.

Last but certainly not least I have got to talk about the weather. The weather? Yes, the WEATHER. I know it does not sound very interesting but you won't believe this, it is June, well that part is believable, LOL! but this part is not, we woke up to snow half way done the mountain. I know, I know crazy isn't it! I just don't know what to say about this but "strange!" I have never seen fresh snowfall in June.

Well that is all I have to say for now. Have a great day!

Dear Jane Blocks Update

I finished five blocks yesterday and 1 today. I now have 7 blocks done. Just 19 more blocks to do to catch up to everyone over at the Dear Baby Jane Blog. Did I say "Just 19 more blocks..."? Oh boy! I better get moving on these blocks! :-)

Finally! A Dear Jane Block!

I have officially started my Dear Baby Jane Quilt. Yes!!! Here is the first block B13. I am, oh lets see, 21 blocks behind!!! :-0 I have a lot of catching up to do. I am hoping to show you more blocks next week (crossing my fingers). :-)

Making Butter How Cool Is That!

I thought this was really neat. I did this a couple of months ago with my children but am just now getting around to posting the pictures I took on my butter making attempt, which was very successful, I might add. :-)

You will need the following:
1. Jar
2. Heavy Whipping Cream
5. Salt (optional) I did not use any.
4. An arm that is in really good shape to shake, shake, shake, LOL!

The first thing you need to do is let your whipping cream sit out on the counter so it will get to room temperature. I only let mine sit out for about 4 hours or so. The longer it sits out the less sweet your butter will be. When the whipping cream is at room temperature pour it into the jar and tighten the lid. Now it's time to exercise those arms, shake, shake, shake that jar! That's right your doing fine! LOL! Anyway, keep shaking. The jar will be white for a while, then you will notice the milk starting to separate from the sides at this point the butter is start to form. Keep shaking until the butter starts to solidify. At this point you can stop and pour the butter milk out, then place the lid back on and keep shaking. When you have more butter milk stop and repeat pouring butter milk out. Keep doing this until you have no more butter milk. Take the butter out of the jar and place in a bowl, pour a little cold water over it and start patting it with a spoon so to take out any remaining milk out of the butter. Repeat cold water process until no more butter milk comes out of the butter. Drain. Your done! You can also clean the butter milk off of the butter while it is still in the jar if you like, rather then putting it in a bowl. Save the butter milk to use in banana bread or blueberry muffins. Yummy! Oh, how good is that! :-) You can also use a Kitchen Aid mixer. That's right let the blender do all the work for you. Try it and let me know how your butter turns out. This is a great thing to do with your children. All though I have to say I think I was more excited about the whole process then they were. LOL! It might be because I really like real butter. My motto for butter is "if you can't see it, there's not enough on it". I have to say, I am getting better and not using so much, now if I can just cut back on the sour cream (my other weakness) then I'll really be doing good. LOL!

A little side note to all my faithful readers, sorry for not being very good at posting this month. I promise I will do better next month. I will be posting some of my sampler quilt blocks soon. Remember the Dear Jane quilt project? I will be starting that soon also. I finally got the computer program for it, now I just need to find the time to start the blocks. I hope to be posting some of those soon also. A new thing I want to start on my blog is posting a really good recipe every month. Check back in May for my second recipe post.

Remember if you try the butter come back and let me know how it went and what method you used. :-)

The Pink Artist Doll "Love Squared" Reveal

The Doll is finished! Her name, "Love Squared". She wears 180 two inch squares. 182 artist total created her. She is just under 40" tall and weighs 6 lbs 2 ounces. Monica said it beautifully "She smiles because already she knows love and is able to give love unconditionally. To many she is a symbol of hope. She stands for courage and was built by a community of givers."

In case you missed my earlier post about The Pink Artist Doll let me catch you up on what I am talking about. Monica Magness of Girl Gone Thread Wild had an idea to make a doll to help raise money for breast cancer research. She asked for artists to make two 2" squares. I answered the call and sent in two squares. I did this for my sister-in-laws mother Gail and all the other beautiful ladies in the world who have had to fight cancer. Love Squared has been sent into Art Doll Quarterly, who is going to do an article on the doll. The doll will be auctioned off on eBay at a later date. The money raised will go to Susan G. Komen For The Cure. I will keep you updated on what is going on with doll as I find out. :-)

Below are the squares that I made for the doll. Feel like playing I spy? LOL! You can see one of my squares on both bottom row close up pictures. The square that is shown has one of my favorite quotes, "Beautiful people cause beautiful things to happen".

Last but certainly not least I want to thank Monica Magness for thinking up such a wonderful idea and seeing it through to the end. You did a beautiful job Monica! Hats off to you!!!

All About Quilting

O.K. this may be a long one. First I wanted to show you the miniature quilt I made for a Fairy Quilt Swap. My dollhouse baby was trying it out before I sent if off to Pennsylvania, so I had to take pictures. LOL! I know all the beads are a choking hazard but I am almost positive she won't choke. LOL! I am still waiting for my fairy quilt to arrive in the mail, my swap partner sent it out yesterday so I am thinking I will get it the end of next week. The quilt I am waiting for won't be for a fairy but for my dollhouse baby, which I still need to name. Any suggestions? I am calling baby's doll Charlotte, because that is what she is a Frozen Charlotte doll. I know it's not very original, but I like it. :-)

Second, remember the Sampler Quilt class the president of my guild was teaching? Tada! Here are my first two blocks. I am almost done with the third block. I have to have it done by next Thursday, so I will post a picture of it next week. The first block is a nine patch block called Sawtooth Patchwork. The idea of the first block was to do a nine patch. We could do any nine patch we wanted so of course I choose the more "difficult" one I was told. It really was not hard and I rather liked the way it turned out. :-) The second block we did was the Flying Dutchman. I did mine so it looked like a pinwheel in the center. The third block.....well, I can't tell you! You will have to wait and see it next week. Hehehe!

Third, I am going to embark on another quilt journey. Yes that's right I am going to make a Dear Jane Quilt. I have been wanting to make one for years now and have decided that this is a great time. A friend and I had been discussing the idea of making one over at Quilting Friends and she told me about a blog called Dear Baby Jane. They are making 2 blocks a week and are in their third week. I joined, but will have catching up to do since they have already done 6 blocks. I can do 3 of the blocks without the book. I am waiting for the book so I can get caught up on the rest of the blocks. There are a total of 225 blocks in the quilt, so you can see why I would like to do it with an organized group. LOL! I am wanting to make two quilts. I will start off using fabrics of today that way I will use some of the fabrics that I have and will buy more as I need them. I also want to make one using the Civil War reproduction fabrics like Jane's quilt. Maybe I bit off more than I can chew, I don't know, but I am sure going to do my best to stay up to date with the blocks every week. I will post on my progress on my Dear Jane quilt. :-)

My OWOH Winnings

I have received all of my prizes that I won from the One World - One Heart blog event. Yeah!!!

Thank so so much Danielle at The Vintage Dragonfly - I won a pack of vintage ephemera

Thank you Jolene at One Vintage Housewife - I won a pair of baby booties & a card

Thanks Jenny at Fated Follies Studio - I won My Big Ideas embellishments

Thank you Molly at Creative Life And Times - I won card & art supplies

Thank you ladies I love all my prizes. If you have some time take a look at these wonderful blogs. If you missed the whole OWOH thing and don't know what I am talking about visit here. :-)I plan on doing some prize giveaways in the future so check back so you don't miss out!